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Individual liberty is individual power, and as the power of a community is a mass compounded of individual powers, the nation which enjoys the most freedom must necessarily be in proportion to its numbers the most powerful nation.

— John Quincy Adams

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Freedom

More quotes by John Quincy Adams

To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is … the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. It prolongs life itself and enlarges the sphere of existence.

Report on the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution (1846)

The conflict between the principle of liberty and the fact of slavery is coming gradually to an issue. Slavery has now the power, and falls into convulsions at the approach of freedom.

He devoted himself, his life, his fortune, his hereditary honors, his towering ambition, his splendid hopes, all to the cause of liberty.

Oration on Lafayette (1834)

Pronounce him one of the first men of his age, and you have yet not done him justice.

Oration on Lafayette (1834)

This is the last of Earth! I am content.

All John Quincy Adams quotes →

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Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

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There is no governor anywhere; you are all absolutely free. There is no restraint that cannot be escaped.

Robert Anton Wilson

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Quincy Adams (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.